The Boys from Risembool
by Artdirector123
Summary: A story for the reverse dad AU where Roy and Hughes swap roles, making Roy the loving family man and Hughes the serious and confident state alchemist. Check out a blog called Dailymaeshughes for more details. As part of the AU, Roy is married to Riza and adopts Ed and Al, So I decided to write something short about how that came to pass. Obviously strays from canon a bit.


"Damn those seats are uncomfortable…" Roy muttered as the got off the train, "You think they would have designed them better…"

Riza sighed and smiled at her new husband. "You know it's still better than a stage coach," she said. They were heading back to East City from their honeymoon. They have been together for a long time, but as soon as Roy had gotten back from the war he had asked her to marry him. Due to Roy's eagerness had been a very quick planning process, only taking them three months before the ceremony. To the outside eye, it would appear as though they were jumping into things too quickly, but anyone who knew them knew they had a very long and sturdy relationship that wouldn't be shaken by a slightly impulsive decision to wed. They had known each other since they were teenagers. Roy had originally wanted to serve the state as state alchemist and had studied under her father for a few years in hopes it would help him achieve this goal. However, when her father found out about this plan, he immediately refused to teach him any more and kicked him out. Ashamed by his own actions in trying to keep his intentions secret from his teacher, Roy decided against becoming a state alchemist and instead joined the military as a normal soldier. He still kept in touch with Riza, sending her letters back and forth until her Father's death, upon which she moved from her hometown and became a police officer in Central where the pair reconnected in person.

Even during the war, the two kept in touch, sending letters to each other. Nothing made Roy happier than to receive Riza's letters. So much so that he would even pester his dear friends Maes Hughes and Gracia Munoz, the army doctor of their regiment, much to their dismay. Still, as much as they complained, he was sure hearing about his letters was still more enjoyable for them than having that creep Solf J. Kimbly bother them. He remembered a particular occasion where he had been antagonizing the poor doctor, telling her that wearing the uniform meant she should be just as prepared to kill as any of the rest of them. He frowned at the memory but quickly brushed it aside. It was still his Honeymoon and he was with the most wonderful woman he had ever known. He shouldn't be letting such things bother him.

"It will be a little while before our next train comes to get us back to East City," she said, "We should probably head into town to get some lunch."

"Agreed," he said, "I'm famished. What are you hungry for?"

Riza thought for a moment before smiling as something came to mind. "Hmmm…" she said tapping her chin, "Something fresh. I've been craving fruit lately."

"Alright, let's see if they have a farmer's market," he said, entwining their elbows as they walked into town.

….

For such a small town, the local market certainly had a good selection. They had apples, peaches, even pumpkin pie. He supposed it was because of the local farming community, but it was still a pleasant surprise. As they made their selection from a produce stand Roy overheard something.

"Hurry up Al!" a tiny voice called.

"I am! I am!" another responded.

Roy turned to see two young boys running and laughing through the streets heading in their directions. Their eyes and smiles were equally bright and their golden hair shined in sunlight. Roy smiled at them. "What an adorable pair," he thought, "Their parents must be very lucky." The two boys were distracted in their race and the shorter one carrying a basket of fruit bumped straight into Roy.

"Oof!" he cried, falling back on his bum, dropping a few tomatoes in the process and causing Roy to chuckled.

"Careful now," he said leaning down to help the boy pick up his produce, "You don't want these getting dirty or bruised now, do you?"

The boy blinked and looked up at him curiously before smiling. "Thanks!" he said as his brother caught up, "Come on Al, let's get home. Mom needs these for the soup as soon as possible!" With that the two ran off down the street.

Roy smiled warmly as he watched them leave. Such kind boys, doing errands for their mother at such a young age. Still, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of longing as he did so. He wondered what it would feel like to have two tiny versions of him or his wife come running up to him like those two most certainly would with their mother. Riza notices the look on his face before glancing in the direction he had been looking. She sighed before giving him an amused expression. "Don't tell me you're already thinking about kids now…" she said, raising an eyebrow at him.

He chuckled, slightly embarrassed. "Is it so wrong?" he asked, "Most couples start thinking about that early on, now don't they?"

"Yeah, but not the week after they get married!" Riza argued giving him a wry smile, "Try to contain yourself, mr. The quick wedding was one thing, but you can't rush into a decision like having kids." "Besides, we aren't in the best financial position at the moment," she responded, "A quick planning process does not equal a cheap wedding, as I'm sure you've learned." She gave him an accusatory look and Roy scratched the back of his head guiltily. While usually he was a bit more prudent with spending money, he really went all out with their wedding. They were probably going to be eating rice and cheap noodles for several months at the very least to cover the expenses. "Let's give ourselves a good year before we start thinking about children," she said, "For now, let's just settle for being dog parents to Hayate, alright?"

Roy sighed and nodded. "Alright…" he said before they went to go finish buying their lunch.

….

Almost a year and a half had passed since that day and Roy and Riza's situation had changed greatly. Roy had gotten a promotion to lieutenant colonel along with a pay increase and Riza became a captain of her squad. Because of that, the two had a much more comfortable life. They were able to move out of the apartment they were sharing and into a small house. Unfortunately, these promotions had made them incredibly busy. They had no time to think about having children of their own, not that they had the ability to care for a newborn anyways. The forgotten subject had saddened Roy a little, but that didn't stop him from gushing to anyone with in about his wife or the puppies her dog had fathered recently. It was funny that he was technically a grandpa of sorts before being a father, but he didn't mind too terribly.

He forgot about his want to be a father for a while until one day, one of the public elementary schools in East City was having a field trip to the military offices. He was leaving his own office to get lunch when he saw the group out on the grounds eating their own sack lunches. Roy noticed the teacher looking worried as she counted and recounted her students. Roy raised an eyebrow curiously as he approached her. "Is something wrong ma'am?" he asked. When she saw him her eyes brightened. "Oh thank goodness!" she said, "Sorry to bother you Sir, but could you please help me? One of my students has gone missing. Can you help me find him."

Roy frowned in worry. "What does he look like?" he asked.

"Well, his name is Edward. He's a bit small for his age, about this high," she gestured to how his height reached up to her hip, "Has golden hair, golden eyes, and is very loud."

Roy smiled. "Well if he's so loud, then I'm sure he'll be easy for me to find for you," he said, "Especially since I'm part of the investigations department."

The woman gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you sir!"

"It's my pleasure, now can you tell me the last place you saw him?" he asked.

….

Roy spent about twenty minutes searching before he found the boy hiding behind a marble pillar, scowling at the ground. As soon as he saw him, he recognized the boy. He saw him in Risembool over a year ago! What was he doing in East City? Did he move here? He didn't think polite of him to ask so he stuck to his original objective. "Hey there little guy," he said, catching the boy's attention. He looked up at him with surprise and suspicion as Roy sat down next to him. The man had to stop himself from frowning as he noticed the brightness in the boy's eyes had dulled slightly. He could see pain in the place of the innocence he had seen before. "Whatcha doing here all alone? Don't you want to be with your friends?" he asked.

The boy glared at him before huffing and looking away. "No. I don't want to be around any of those jerks," he growled.

This time Roy really did frown. "Why not? Did something happen?" he asked before noticing the seven year old didn't have a sack lunch with him. "What happened to your lunch?" he asked.

Edward looked down, considering whether he should speak or not before he did so. "Some jerk threw it in the fountain," he finally admitted, "So I knocked him down and punched him in the nose."

Roy blinked in surprise before giving the boy a look of pity. "I see," he said, "I suppose that's why you're hiding, isn't it? So you won't get in trouble?"

To his surprise, he shook his head no. "I don't care if I get in trouble, I just don't want to hear the teacher lecture me," he said, "She doesn't care about me. She shouldn't get to lecture me about anything."

Roy frowned. "I'm sure she cares about you…" he started before the boy cut her off.

"No she doesn't! None of them do! If she did she wouldn't let them pull things like that on me," he responded.

"It's a field trip," he tried to assure, "She has a lot of children to keep track of. I'm sure if it was a normal-"

"That's a load of crap!" he snapped, completely blindsiding roy. He had not expected that kind of language from a 7 year old. He was about to say something when he continued. "Those jerks try to push around my brother and I all the time, and the stupid teachers do nothing. If anything, I'm the one who gets in trouble for fighting back," he growled before looking down, "They call me short, 'n make fun of us 'cause we're from the country and didn't have all the nice things that city people did like radios and cars…"

Roy frowned sadly, once again feeling bad for the boy. Children could be cruel and didn't help that the boy was being reprimanded for sticking up for himself. Though to be fair, with the little boy's way of dealing with the teasing, the teachers probably thought he was the troublemaker. He didn't know what to say. "Have you tried telling your parents about this problem? Maybe they could-" he started before the boy suddenly glared at him. Mustang shut up as he saw the anger mixed with despair in the boy's eyes. Roy's eyes widened at the implications of that glare before they softened again. Oh. OHHHHHHHH. "I'm sorry," he said quietly and respectfully. Roy's heart ached for the boy at this revelation. He could relate, as he too lost his parents at a young age. That's partially why he cherished his wife so much. He knew how easily one could lose those closest to them.

They were silent for a moment before Roy placed a hand on the boy's back. "Hey," he said, "It's gonna be alright. It's going to hurt for a while. A long time actually, but you'll pull through. Things will get bet-"

"Things are not going to get better!" Edward shouted at him, "In fact, I don't think there's a way they could possibly get worse! These people just came to our door saying that cause our mom was gone and our dad disappeared, we had to go to a stupid rotten orphanage. We had to leave Winry and Granny, and Granny can't adopt us back because they said because she's old and alone and doesn't have a steady income, three kids would be too much for her!" "We're stuck in this stupid city with no friends, no family, and they people at the orphanage won't even let us practice Alchemy," he ranted, "It sucks! I hate it here!"

Roy blinked at the little boy as he finished letting out his pent up rage. He didn't know what to think. The boy's situation was more than frustrating. He must feel so alone. The boy needed someone who he could trust. Roy scratched his chin as he thought for a moment before a thought came to mind. "So," he said, "Do you just plan on sitting here for the rest of eternity?"

Edward glared at him before turning away with a "humpf!"

"Alright then," he said, "But how do you think you brother would feel? You're the one person he's closest to, correct? How do you think he would feel if you just gave up and sat in the streets for your whole life, leaving him behind?" Edward didn't say anything. He glared at Roy before looking to the ground sadly. "I know what you're going through is tough," Roy said comfortingly, "But you have to stay strong. Things WILL get better. I promise you that much. But nothing with change if you just give up. Giving up is like letting those bullies beat you down. Besides, your brother is gonna need someone to stand by his side to get through this. Can you really let him just keep struggling on on his own?"

Edward shook his head "no" sadly.

"I thought so," Roy said with a smile before standing up and holding out a hand to the boy, "Now come on, let's go get you a real lunch. A nice warm one from the cafeteria before I get you back to your class. How does that sound?"

Edward seemed to consider this. "It won't be gross like the school food is, will it?" he questioned.

Roy chuckled and shook his head no. "Nope. This cafeteria isn't like the one at your school. It's much nicer. I promise," he answered. With that, Edward rubbed his nose on his sleeve before standing up and taking the man's hand.

….

Riza was tired when she got home from work. It had been a long day and she was ready to hit the hay as soon as she had finished eating dinner. Needless to say she was not prepared when her husband suddenly burst through the door saying, "Riza, there's something I need to talk to you about," he announced.

She nearly choked on her water she had been drinking in surprise by his entrance. Well, one couldn't say he didn't know how to make an entrance. She blinked away her surprise before responding. "Yes? What about?" she asked.

"Children," he said simply.

Her face was deadpanned as she processed this. She sighed and rested her head in her hand. Well, it had been over a year and they were much better off now. "Roy, I'm sorry but this really isn't a good time try doing anything," she said, "I'm really tired. How about we talk about what we want to do tomorrow and then-"

"No, not making children," Roy clarified, "Adopting them. I already have two in mind in fact."

Riza was taken aback by this. As she let the information sink in she frowned at him. "Wait a minute, are you telling me you were already planning on adopting without me?" she questioned.

"No!" Roy said holding his hands up, "Well...sort of. I met a young orphan boy today and I really would like to adopt him and his brother. They're currently dealing with a very unfortunate situation and I think it would really help them if we took them in."

Riza gave a curious look. "Unfortunate situation?" she repeated, "Can you explain?"

Roy nodded before sitting down in the chair across from her and relaying the story he had heard from the boy. As he told her their story, she couldn't help but feel pity for the boys. Once he was done she set her fork down and folded her hands together, resting her chin on top of them as she thought. "I think unfortunate is an understatement when it comes to what those boys are dealing with…" Riza admitted, looking down at her empty plate.

"So you agree with me?" Roy said hopefully.

She looked at his smiling face before sighing. "Yes and no," she said, causing him to frown, "Those boys do need a stable home, but the question is if it should be ours. I would love to help them, but if we aren't the ones suited for the job, then I couldn't agree to take them in." "Neither of us have much experience with children, Roy, and the pups are already a handful," she explained. Roy attempted to protest before Riza held up a finger. "However…." she continued, "That is not a no. I just want to make sure we aren't rushing into things here. We should take some time to figure this out. Read a parenting guide or two. If we were having a child by birth we'd get between 7 to nine months of preparation time anyways depending on when we found out about it, so it's only fair that we take some time to figure this out too."

Roy's smile once again returned to his face as he quickly got up and moved across the table to hug and kiss her. "You're the best Riza," he said as he continued to plant kisses on her face.

She hummed in amusement. "Well I certainly try," she responded.

…

And so for two months the couple worked together to make sure they were ready to have children in their home. They debated over possible babysitters, what school they should be enrolled in, a good doctor for them and so on before working on becoming applicable for adopting. When the approval letter came back Roy was overjoyed, lifting Riza for a moment in pure excitement.

The next day when Roy had calmed down, they headed into the orphanage with their paperwork asking for Edward and Alphonse Elric. The woman at the desk was positively delighted when she found out Roy and Riza were planning on adopting Edward and Alphonse. "You see, several people have tried to adopt either one of them, but they just refuse to be separated. If Alphonse is requested to be interviewed alone, he'll refuse to go down to the room. And if Edward gets called down alone…" The woman winced slightly, "Well, he actively tries to make the couple interviewing him dislike him. But I assure you! They are very good boys! Very sweet. They're both just very wary around strangers."

Roy and Riza nodded but exchanged looks when the woman turned her back. "You two wait here," she said as she pointed into a room with a table and four chairs, two of which had booster seats. She then departed from the couple as she went to go retrieve the boys.

Roy tapped his foot impatiently as he glanced down the hall every so often. Riza smiled at him. "Nervous are we?" She chuckled.

"Well, I hope they end up liking us," He admitted, "We can't force them too after all."

"True, but from what I understand, you made a pretty good impression," Riza responded.

"Please boys!" they heard coming from down the hall. Roy and Riza both turned to see the woman trying to tug Edward along by the arm. "There are some very nice people who want to meet you."

"No!" the small, golden haired boy protested, "Let me go!" Alphonse was a little willing to work with the woman but his brother was having none of it. He didn't want to be adopted by any one. He just wanted to go back home.

"Are you sure we can handle him?" Riza questioned turning to her husband.

Roy laughed nervously. "I'm sure it will be fine!"

"Come on Ed…" the younger boy said, "Maybe we'll like these people."

"Grrrr…." the boy uttered before relenting. They were lead into the room where Roy and Riza were. All of a sudden, Ed's eyes widened. He recognized that man! He saw him last month. "You!" he cried pointing at him, "You were that soldier from before!"

"Yup!" Roy said waving at him, "Good to see you, kid! How've you been?"

Ed didn't respond as he continued to process the information. "Wait…" he said, "Is this why you said things were gonna get better? Because you were going to adopt me?" The boy felt slightly betrayed by this.

"Actually I only started considering that after you left," Roy admitted. Edward still glared at him.

"Boys," the lady said, "Why don't you introduce yourself to this nice couple, huh?"

"Does it matter, they already know all about me…" Ed muttered before his brother pushed his shoulder.

"I'm Alphonse Elric! It's nice to meet you!" he said, holding out a hand. Riza and Roy both smiled before Riza took it in her own.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Alphonse," Riza responded. She then turned to Edward. "And you must be Edward then? My name is Riza Mustang and this is my husband, Roy," she said, "It's good to finally meet you. He's told me a lot about you."

"I'll bet…" Ed muttered as he and his brother were ushered over to the seats and told to sit down.

"I'll leave you be for a bit. I hope things go well for you," the lady said before closing the door.

"So…" Riza started, "What is it that you boys like to do for fun?"

"Well…" Alphonse started, "I like reading! I like reading science books a lot. But the school library doesn't have anything I haven't already read."

"Really? You read through it that quickly?" Roy said, "That's quite an accomplishment little man."

Alphonse smiled. "Thank you! What about you guys? What do you do for fun?" he asked.

"Well we don't have much free time," Roy admitted, "But when I get home I do enjoy reading too. I've got a few good works of fiction in my library." "A Lot of my free time is spent looking after the dogs," he explained.

"Dogs?" Alphonse said. Edward looked slightly more interested in the conversation ut didn't speak.

"Yup!" Roy said with a bright smile pulling out a picture, "Look at them, aren't they adorable? They're only 3 months old you know!"

"Awwwww!" Alphonse cood, "their so small and fuzzy…"

Ed tried to not look curiously at the pictures of the little scamps but found it very hard to. Roy suddenly turned to him and showed him the picture. "How about you, Ed? Do You like them? I'm sure they'd really like you! They just love meeting new people!" Roy asked him. The little boy only huffed and looked away.

Roy gave a downtrodden look and Alphonse scowled at his brother before he spoke up. "I really like them Sir," he chirped.

Roy smiled at the boy. "That's great to hear," he said.

"So, Alphonse, what are your other interests?" Riza asked.

"Well…" he started. The three talked for a little while longer and about little things. What he used to do when he was little, his favorite park in town, his favorite season. As the conversation continued Edward became more and more annoyed. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and slammed his palms on the table. "Why are you doing this?" he questioned.

Roy and Riza blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?" Roy questioned.

"This is your way of trying to make things better, isn't it?" he said, "You think you're doing some great act by taking us in, but I told you what we wanted. I told you that all we wanted was just to go back home and live with our friend again." "But now you're trying to ruin any chance of that happening!" Ed accused, "We were gonna run away from this place. How are we supposed to get out of this place and go home when you decided to make us legally yours and take us even farther away?"

Both adults looked affronted and offended at Ed's words. "Brother!" Alphonse snapped, "How could you say something so mean like-" However, Roy raising his hand to cut him off.

He had a very upset look on his face as he spoke next. "Do you really think us so selfish and cruel that we wouldn't let a young boy have regular contact with the closest thing to family that he has?" he said in a low tone.

Edward blinked in surprise. "Wait what?" he responded looking between the two of them, "You weren't gonna keep us here in East City forever?"

"Of course not!" Riza said as if it were obvious. There was an angry scowl on her face. "We got in contact with one Pinako Rockbell several weeks ago to organize a schedule of when you two can visit them if we were to adopt you two," she explained, "While you will be living here with us, we never intended to never let you leave the city. Granted one of us would be escorting you for each visit."

"Yes, we want children around," Roy said, "But we also want you two to be happy."

Edward sat back in his chair feeling terrible. "Sorry…" he muttered, looking down at the table in shame.

The couple's faces lighten at that. "You're forgiven," Riza responded.

"Hey," Roy said, smile returned to his face as he looked at Ed, "How about we start over then, huh?"

The golden haired boy looked up at him and nodded. Roy's smile brightened. "Alright," he said, "So I heard you boys like alchemy." Both of the brother's eyes lit up and they shared bright smiles before they began to ramble about their favorite topic.

…

After the paperwork was finished they all headed home. Roy and Riza had given them a quick tour of the house, pointing out the bathroom, the kitchen, their bedroom, and the library. The two were particularly excited about the library. Their eyes practically twinkled as they saw it for the first time. After a long afternoon and night of getting used to and exploring their new home, Riza and Roy got the boys to bed. The two slept on opposite ends of the same queen sized bed. They still needed to get a second one for them, but for now, this worked.

Roy smiled as he looked down at their sleeping forms from the doorway. Alphonse scrunched his nose and turned in his sleep before Roy closed the door again. Ever since they finished filling out the forms that afternoon he hadn't been able to stop smiling. Even when he crawled into bed with Riza that evening he was still beaming.

She noticed this and smirked at him.

"You've been smiling all day," she observed, "Your face hasn't gotten stuck that way as it?"

"Riza…" he said, "We're parents!"

She sighed, returning his smile. "I know, Roy," she said, "I was there when we signed the forums, remember?"

"Those boys are going to be wonderful," he said, "I can just tell."

"They're certainly going to be a handful," she responded with a light chuckle.

"Yeah…but a good handful," Roy said. He then pulled the sheets over himself and tried to go to sleep. He couldn't wait for tomorrow. He couldn't wait to tell everyone about these two boys. In fact, he knew the first thing that he would do tomorrow was call up his close friend Hughes and let him know all about it.


End file.
